Posted on 08/09/2007 3:18:57 AM PDT by abb
On this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender.
The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender. The United States had already planned to drop their second atom bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man," on August 11 in the event of such recalcitrance, but bad weather expected for that day pushed the date up to August 9th. So at 1:56 a.m., a specially adapted B-29 bomber, called "Bock's Car," after its usual commander, Frederick Bock, took off from Tinian Island under the command of Maj. Charles W. Sweeney. Nagasaki was a shipbuilding center, the very industry intended for destruction. The bomb was dropped at 11:02 a.m., 1,650 feet above the city. The explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force, but the number killed is estimated at anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 (exact figures are impossible, the blast having obliterated bodies and disintegrated records).
General Leslie R. Groves, the man responsible for organizing the Manhattan Project, which solved the problem of producing and delivering the nuclear explosion, estimated that another atom bomb would be ready to use against Japan by August 17 or 18-but it was not necessary. Even though the War Council still remained divided ("It is far too early to say that the war is lost," opined the Minister of War), Emperor Hirohito, by request of two War Council members eager to end the war, met with the Council and declared that "continuing the war can only result in the annihilation of the Japanese people...." The Emperor of Japan gave his permission for unconditional surrender.
Don't forget all of the Japanese that survived because of the bombs. Japanese casualties would have been in the millions if the Allies had had to invade.
After taking part in the invasion of the Marshall Islands,my Dad was a forward spotter for a AAA installation on an island "you could throw a stone across". He had special type of depth perception that worked well with the scope they used. That was pretty much all he would ever talk about. He never shared anything about the night of the invasion of the Marshall Islands.
Shall we resurrect the Japanese army film footage of the rape of Nanking with brave Japanese soldiers bayonetting babies and shooting everyone in sight? That one incident killed over 200,000 chinese. The Japanese civilian population completely and mindlessly supported the war efforts and they received the consideration they were due when the bombs were dropped and the casualties included them—NONE.
My father falls into that category. He had completed a tour in the ETO with the 319th BG and the group was moved to Okinawa shortly afterward. His group dropped leaflet bombs on Japan the week before warning of a devastating attack if they did not immediately surrender. He might not have been as lucky in the Pacific as he was in Europe. Better a million dead Japanese than one more allied death.
A prayer for the innocents who died that day.
:’)
One war at a time. :’) My view is that we should (and probably are) building a LOT of antisub smart weapons, including little gizmos which seek out and attach to enemy subs, then blow them to the bottom without warning. And missile defense isn’t just about Muzzie fanatics and North Korea. :’)
Actually, there weren’t. If I recall, they only had one morwe ready to go.
True today... but then it did not matter.
LLS
GOD bless your fathers and you!
LLS
Here’s what Gen. Groves had to say about a third bomb.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/67.pdf
I believe we would have found a way to fabricate several more bombs purty damn quick if we had needed them. I would be interested to see any research on how many bombs were built immediately after hostilities ceased and when they were ready to deliver.
I don’t think the problem was fabricating the bombs, but making sufficient fissionable material for them.
I don’t think the problem was fabricating the bombs, but making sufficient fissionable material for them.
My high school aged father-in-law was sent from his family farm to work in the naval shipyard at Sasebo.
Unlucky Nagasaki got nuked because the primary target, Kokura (now part of the city of Kitakyushu) was obscured by cloud cover that morning.
Yes. I had read about that somewhere once before. What I did learn new today after doing a bit of research, is that another bomb was almost ready to ship out to Tinian and several more were in the pipeline. Years ago, I had read that Little Boy and Fat Man were the only bombs in existence. From the memo at the last link I posted, it seems there was debate as to whether the bombs should be used strategically or tactically in tandem with Operation Downfall.
Initially there was Trinity, the province. There was just enough fissionable material, both U238 and Plutonium for just one bomb each. There where plans for more but they weren’t made yet the time of the bombing.
Another bomb was almost ready and several were in the pipeline.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/72.pdf
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